WWE has been distancing themselves from "wrestling" and moving towards "entertainment" since the end of the Attitude Era. The strange mentality of "Sports Entertainment" being better than "Pro Wrestling" is in some ways as silly as someone saying UFC is better than MMA. However, while "Pro Wrestling" and "Sports Entertainment" are one in the same, it has certainly become clear in recent years that there are differences. Sports Entertainment puts much more emphasis on more dialog, shorter matches and a lighter style of in-ring competition. Pro Wrestling is more focused on the (often times longer) wrestling match itself while still managing to put forth decent storylines. Matches are often times far more stiff and provide much more high-flying action. In the end though, they both take place inside a ring, surrounded by a crowd similar to how some MMA matches may take place inside an octagonal cage while others take place inside a ring.
Still, WWE continues to attempt to make "wrestling" a dirty word:
WWE officials have decided to stop using the word "wrestling" in their name. The company has issued an internal memo that the word "wrestling" is no longer to be used in any way, shape or form. From here on out, WWE's promotional material will refer to them as WWE Inc. and not World Wrestling Entertainment. This goes for everything from posters to books and commentary on WWE programming.In essence, WWE is doing what KFC did a few years back. KFC used to be "Kentucky Fried Chicken" but since its re-branding, the company now prefers to (for whatever reason) just be referred to as KFC (get the Kentucky out...?). So it seems that though there are similarities, Pro wrestling and Sports Entertainment (or WWE if you prefer) will continue to move further away from one another as time goes on. It's up to the fans to support the type of entertainment they like and I for one will put my dollars towards high-quality independent promotions such as Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate.
-PWDragon
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